


Interludes

by quebaek (anonymousloris)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drinking, Drunken Shenanigans, Fluff, M/M, Suggestive Themes, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 07:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousloris/pseuds/quebaek
Summary: “I feel like …” Baekhyun turned around, two drinks in hand, “A drink is just an interlude.”“From what to what?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.“From a drink to more drinks,” Baekhyun started, handing off one drink to the other boy, “Which is really just an interlude to saying what we think.”“And that's just an interlude to getting more comfortable.” Chanyeol sipped at it, barely tasting any alcohol and wondering if Baekhyun had put any in it at all, “So what’s next?”





	Interludes

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing and hoarding EXO fic for a while now, but this will be my first post.
> 
> While the fic isn't entirely based off the song, some words including the title are pulled from Interlude by Slopes.
> 
> Enjoy ~

Baekhyun drunk on cocktails is flirty.

Chanyeol watched as he slipped cash along the counter to the bartender. She was cute, but not _that_ cute. At least not enough to warrant as much chit chat as Baekhyun was making with her. She didn’t seem to reciprocate it though, seeing as she left the boy and his meticulously styled hair to go mix.

Once the drink came, Baekhyun turned and handed it to Sehun. It was their office intern, Sehun’s, 21st birthday, so everybody took him out that night. That meant that it was essentially mandatory that Chanyeol went. Instead of staying home and playing guitar, he would be here enjoying himself. Heaven forbid.

Chanyeol had been watching the first legal drink pass and then the rounds that came after it. Lemon drops, margaritas, vodka and sprite, and all the cocktails concoctions they could think of to push on the youngest just flowed from bar to mouth. Eventually, Baekhyun confronted Chanyeol with a one. Safe to say the shorter boy was tipsy when he pushed the drink into his hand.

“It’s on me, tall-boy-yeol. Consider it a favor.” Baekhyun winked.

“I have to get up early.” Chanyeol responded, sipping at the drink nonetheless.

“How unfortunate.” Baekhyun sighed, “I was hoping to finally see you cut loose.”

Baekhyun gave him a solid wink before drifting … actually, perhaps floating back to the group of boys and that girl bartender to whom Baekhyun seemed suddenly uninterested in.

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on beer is soft.

He slumped down onto the couch next to Chanyeol with a beer in his hands and a look of contentment on his face. His hair smelled like apples and his clothes smelled like hops. Chanyeol wondered briefly what Baekhyun must smell like normally. Seems the group hang out sessions involved too much beer and pizza for Chanyeol to really know.

Jongin and Junmyeon seemed to try and get people together to watch sports games or movies. Tonight it was the World Cup so everybody showed up toting a six pack and some sort of dip. Chanyeol, the hipster, appeared with tacquitos in one hand and six pack of ale in the other because he had to say he just didn’t get beer all that much.

Baekhyun on the other hand seemed to not just like beer, but he liked the fact that he liked beer. It wasn’t a real night until he had gloated about his beer palate at least once. In fact, he was on his fourth or fifth one when he slumped down on the couch next to Chanyeol.

“So red team or blue team?” Baekhyun asked, leaning his head up against Chanyeol’s shoulder and taking another swig of whatever poison he’d picked moments ago.

“Well, red team is us and blue team is America so …” Chanyeol lulled his head to touch Baekhyun’s, feeling the ale sink to the other side of him as he went, “Take a guess.”

“I guess you don’t care about sports either.” The response came.

And he was right.

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on tequila is crazy.

He wants to dance to throbbing bass beats and tracks with no beginning or end just drop after drop after drop.

And, okay, this was all fine and dandy. Up until he decided to ask Chanyeol to dance with him, of course.

They were at that same old club. The one they always went to whenever they could get some of them together after work. Not everybody had come. Yixing was getting married supposedly and spent a lot of time planning with his fiancée about mindless wedding details. A couple others had excuses too, so the party ended up small.

“Just do it before he cries.” Jongin said, shoving Chanyeol off the seat with his hips.

Chanyeol remembered shooting a glance back at Jongin because he knew full well the guy didn’t care about Baekhyun, he just wanted more time to talk to Kyungsoo at the table alone. Hard to hate him for trying though, and Chanyeol was nice so he let Baekhyun draw him out on the dance floor with a short arm but a wide grin.

Jongdae was on the dance floor and so was Minseok. The latter was a fantastic dancer and had a lot of girls gathering around him like a flock of geese looking from breadcrumbs. Except, Minseok was less of a breadcrumb and more like a full loaf. And he’s never even taken dance lessons. They say he’s part water because he moves so fluidly.

However, this didn’t phase Baekhyun. He seemed to be dancing on his own in a world several light years away from their own. He kept pulling Chanyeol closer, trying to move his hips with his own and eventually it started to work. It could have been the tequila shots or maybe something else, but Chanyeol felt himself falling into the dance with ease.

“You’re really bad at dancing.” Baekhyun commented once the music slowed down. He put his forehead on Chanyeol’s shoulder and muttered into his shirt, “It’s really cute, you know that?”

Chanyeol chuckled, still not tipsy enough to flow with it yet, “I’m not sure what the right response to that is.”

“Any response is the right one.” Baekhyun laughed, the boy’s breath rippling against Chanyeol’s somewhat sweat slicked button down, “I swear to god I’m into you. No stress.”

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on rum is confident.

After a million excuses as to why they should hang out together, Chanyeol eventually caved. He let Baekhyun come to his apartment and they wrote songs in his studio room. For the first hour, Chanyeol had to keep himself steady. He was blown away by how beautiful Baekhyun’s voice was. He hadn’t recalled anybody ever mentioning that Baekhyun could sing.

“I can’t.” He denied, a bit flushed in the face, “Maybe when I’m drunk, but I’m not very good.”

“Then let’s get you drunk.” Chanyeol insisted, “You sound fantastic.”

All he had in the cupboard was rum. He poured it in with some coke and they started to talk about music like old friends at a reunion. Three or four cups went by before they realized they had gotten lost among the words of their own sentences. They both had gotten choked up by music and what it meant to them.

Music helped Baekhyun when he needed it the most. He hadn’t always had it so easy and when things got sad, he would sing to himself and how the notes lifted his spirits. Anything could be turned into a song if you tried hard enough.

On the other hand, Chanyeol had never needed music. Instead it just managed to find him. Weaving through every medium and venue whenever Chanyeol turned away. He didn’t look to music for respite. No, it sought him out and plucked at his brain until he wrote every line of it.

The couch seemed smaller at this point. All the space between them has been sucked away with every breath they took. The pauses between sentences got longer until they weren’t speaking at all.

The story goes that Baekhyun said, “I love your hair.”

And Chanyeol said, “You can touch it.” back.

Then once his fingers were running through the short strands, there was no turning back. Their lips were pressed together a few times, a couple of breathy noises bouncing from one to the other until Baekhyun had his knees on either side of Chanyeol. The confident boy pressed Chanyeol’s head back on the couch and he marveled at how it was to look at Chanyeol from above.

“Is this what it’s like to be tall?” Baekhyun had joked, the spice of rum evident in his breath, “You’re even hotter from up here. If that’s at all possible.”

“Yeah. I see everyone from selfie angle.” Chanyeol joked.

It had made Baekhyun laugh, which was awe inspiring. If he hadn’t pulled Baekhyun closer by his belt loops right then and there, it would have been the biggest missed opportunity of his life.

Good thing he didn’t miss it.

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on whiskey is somber.

He showed up at Chanyeol’s door and there was something _wrong_.

It hadn’t been too long since that night on Chanyeol’s couch. They had texted a little bit more and they talked more at work. They had gone out to lunch a couple times and maybe kissed on Chanyeol’s couch when they should have been watching a movie, but they hadn’t talked as much since that night.

So when Baekhyun showed up out of the blue, there was something amiss.

Chanyeol invited him in with a cap on his concern as if afraid of scaring the boy away by showing that he cared. Baekhyun didn’t keep up the facade for very long before he broke down.

“He’s dead, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said, keeping his eyes fierce and dry, “He’s just gone.”

Nobody’s a stranger to loss and Chanyeol was no different. He listened to Baekhyun tell him about his father and how much he had done to keep them afloat once his mother left. The story came out in broken shards of memories. Chanyeol didn’t dare pick them up out of fear that he would cut his hands trying to help Baekhyun clean.

Instead he offered Baekhyun a drink and the boy was more than happy to take it.

They whiled away an entire bottle of whiskey sharing memories, stories, and secrets.

Chanyeol had let Baekhyun cry into his shirt for a little bit. It felt strange and different and new to have somebody open up like this. He’s had plenty of friends, but none like Baekhyun.

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on vodka is thirsty.

In a good way.

If that’s a thing.

“You know you’ve had almost four shots.” Chanyeol reminded him.

“You’re totally right!” Baekhyun snatched some more shot glasses, “You should have some more.”

“No … I …” Chanyeol laughed, “There’s so many people at this party.”

He was right, of course. All their friends were here. Kyungsoo and Jongin were probably hooking up in the bathroom upstairs while Jongdae and Minseok told stories to their harem about things that may or may not have actually happened to them.

“Too many people.” Baekhyun agreed, “Let’s go to mine.”

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, but he went. They wound their way out of the party and down the streets. They giggled and laughed about nothing in particular on the way there. It felt like the walk would take forever and Chanyeol maybe had wanted that. He loved walking next to Baekhyun and telling him about constellations. He loved space as a kid and part of him always will.

They held hands for a few blocks. Baekhyun said he was trying to help Chanyeol stay balanced, but Chanyeol only felt happy, he didn’t feel wasted at all.

All good things must come to an end and so they did. Chanyeol noticed that Baekhyun had an actual house. This neighborhood was nice, all these tiny house cramped together on a tiny street. It was so very urban and so very lovable even in the dark.

“I’m sorry you haven’t been here yet.” Baekhyun apologized, running his fingers across the back of his neck.

“You’re good.” Chanyeol nodded.

Like a happy dog, Chanyeol followed Baekhyun to the kitchen where he started making drinks with vodka and mixers in red solo cups just like they were college students again.

“I feel like …” Baekhyun turned around, two drinks in hand, “A drink is just an interlude.”

“From what to what?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

“From a drink to more drinks,” Baekhyun started, “Which is really just an interlude to saying what we think.”

“And that is just an interlude to being relaxed.” Chanyeol sipped at it, barely tasting any alcohol and wondering if Baekhyun had put any in it at all, “So what’s next?”

Baekhyun smiled, “Loud sex?”

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on champagne is talented.

It wasn’t even midnight and they had almost gotten through the whole bottle. Chanyeol watched with a coy smile as he sipped his own champagne. He saw Baekhyun doing card tricks across the room like he was a fully trained magician.

Everyone seemed to think Baekhyun was amazing when he did this. He was buzzing happy and giving away his every move because of that stupid grin, but nobody seemed to care. In a dramatic show of events, Baekhyun snatched a card out of thin air (that he had been hiding behind his palm) and showed it to Jongdae.

“Okay, that’s insane.” Jongdae announced.

Chanyeol locked eyes with Baekhyun from across the room, but before he could say anything to the contrary, somebody started cheering from across the room. Junmyeon had managed to get about … an entire bottle of wine down and was now standing on a table holding up a glass.

“I just want …” He trailed off, smiling so widely it must have hurt, “To thank everybody here. I know we’re celebrating the company tonight and how well we’ve done this year, but there’s something cooler to be said.”

Yixing was sitting on the couch with an arm around his insanely attractive fiancée and cheering Junmyeon on. Everybody else shuffled about until they were closer to the table and looking at their inebriated friend.

“You guys are the coolest friends and people. You’ve all changes so much and gotten like sixty-eight times more best.” He smiled, raising his glass, “To everybody!”

Everyone laughed at first, but a little clapping and cheering started up among a few and then rocketed through the rest of the group. Soon the whole room was clapping and cheering and yelling like it was new years. Jongdae and Minseok even put Junmyeon on their shoulders and paraded him around the basement.

In the name of celebration, Yixing kissed his fiancée and Jongin kissed a very surprised Kyungsoo out of the blue. Even Minseok had to stop mid way through his triumphant parade with Junmyeon to get a kiss from some girl he had probably only spoken too once.

Chanyeol had ended up on the couch, making a face at Yixing and his to-be-wife as if they were the grossest thing he’d seen. But when he turned back, Baekhyun was leaning over him with a smile. He put the deck of cards under Chanyeol’s chin and tilted his head up so he could kiss them.

“I called it!” Jongdae yelled, pointing to Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

Between Jongdae yelling and Minseok trying to kiss someone, they lost control of their parade route and ended up knocking Junmyeon into the ceiling fan. The whole trio of them toppled to the ground in a fit of laughter.

After the initial shock wore off, Jongin hopped up off the couch and checked to make sure Junmyeon was okay.

“He’ll have a nasty bump, but he’s fine.” The ex-lifeguard declared.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes from the couch, but everyone else found it amusing, turning to a low rumble of chuckles instead. Baekhyun took the moment to turn around and plop onto Chanyeol’s laugh, making the boy behind him huff in surprise.

“I think we need new friends.” Baekhyun commented before settling in.

* * *

Baekhyun drunk on wine is sleepy.

He was even sleepy at the restaurant really.

Apparently when you kiss at a work party you become a sort of type of thing. And that thing gets to do things like get coffee and hold hands and flirt over the cubicle walls. Additionally, that thing can age and after so long it’s something to celebrate. So they went to a fancy restaurant and blew cash on overpriced fish and wine because it was _to them_.

“To being us.” Baekhyun said, his smile loose and comfortable like a fitted t-shirt.

“To being us for longer.” Chanyeol joked.

They sipped at their wine and ordered fancy cooked fish with even fancier side dishes. Baekhyun even managed to order something with cucumbers in it and barely even threw a fit about it since he was so happy and relaxed. Plus, Chanyeol picked out all the cucumbers and ate them for him anyways.

That’s really why he keeps him around.

At the end of the night they were saddled up in bed with Baekhyun’s arm across Chanyeol’s chest and humming a little tune he probably just made up on the car ride home. Both of them were wearing only their sleep pants and perhaps just one sock between their four feet. They were both about four glasses of wine down and about the happiest that two people could have ever been.

Baekhyun kissed Chanyeol’s shoulder. It was sleepy and gentle so he kept going until Chanyeol started laughing.

“What’s your deal?” He asked, turning that Chanyeol smile on his half-conscious counterpart.

“What’s _your_ deal?” Baekhyun chuckled.

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “Not worth it.”

Baekhyun stuck his tongue out before burying his head back in Chanyeol’s shoulder and breathing out softly.

“I love you.” Baekhyun murmured.

Chanyeol’s eyebrows went up for a second. He was surprised to hear it. Though he shouldn’t have been, “Do you really?”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun shook his head, nuzzling Chanyeol’s neck in the process, “Don’t trust me right now, though. I’ve been drinking. Ask me in the morning.”

His answer was the same in the morning.

* * *

Chanyeol drunk on Baekhyun is in love.

That sounds really cheesy, and it is.

Baekhyun has always made him cheesy.

When he gets stuck in his head or spent too long working on a song Baekhyun has always been there to take him out for ice cream. They’ll go places and do things, generally as those annoying boys over in the corner. They’re the life of every party. How could you invite one without the other? Separately they’re fantastic, but together they’re unstoppable.

One day, Baekhyun took Chanyeol out in the afternoon. He said they were going to get a late lunch since they had laid in bed all day doing nothing but watching netflix episodes and arguing over who the main character should get with.

He drove them to a bar they had been to many times before. The one where Sehun had his birthday party.

It wasn’t even open yet, but Baekhyun had a key for some reason.

“What are you on about?” Chanyeol asked him, laughing a bit as he did.

“Just --” Baekhyun unlocked the door, pushing it open, “Come on.”

The smaller boy’s voice was suddenly higher pitched, squeaky like instability.

So Chanyeol followed him inside. It was dark. He could just barely make out the sloping shapes of chairs stacked on tables. Baekhyun took Chanyeol’s hand and walked slowly but steadily until they were just about to where the bar should be.

Then the lights came on.

When Chanyeol’s eyes adjusted, he say Junmyeon and Sehun ... and Jongin with his arm around Kyungsoo. Yixing was holding his now wife from behind, and Minseok and Jongdae were leaning against the bar like they owned it.

“What … what are you guys?” Chanyeol cracked a smile, totally unsure of what was going on.

And then Baekhyun turned around, looking emotional.

 

“I was thinking about these interludes, you know..” Baekhyun said, his voice breathy and carefully plotted. He slowly sank down, landing on one knee and reaching into his pocket, “And about how they start in one place. Like--like a bar. Then they lead to something, which leads to something else. I keep thinking about what’s next.”

“Baek-”

“Will you marry me?” Baekhyun asked, his voice finally rocketing up the octave, “Please?”

Chanyeol was awestruck. All of their friends were looking on with huge grins, silently waiting. Baekhyun opened a little box with a little gold ring inside. No rock, just gold. It was beautiful in simplicity.

“Did you just say please?” Chanyeol teased, looking

“Come on!” Baekhyun whined, throwing his head back, “Just say it, man.”

“Yes.” Chanyeol laughed, “Of course yes.”

“Hey, everybody!” Baekhyun looked over his shoulder, “He said yes!”

“Fuck yeah he did!” Sehun yelled from the bar.

Everybody erupted into cheers and clapping. Every single one of them had smiles brighter than the sun. They may not always stay in this city forever, but at least in that very second they were all united. Eventually you have to move away. Have kids in the suburbs, or get transferred to a way better position far away.

But right then, Baekhyun just stood up and kissed his fiancé.

“Hey, Kris and Luhan and Tao are here cleaning. They said they can get us drinks before the bar opens.” Jongdae called out from the bar.

“I’m good. Actually.” Chanyeol said, not looking away from Baekhyun, “I’ve got a whole lifetime to get this guy drunk now.”


End file.
